Rudder assemblies for boats must clearly be provided with means whereby the rudder can be readily raised or lowered out of or into its steering position. Thus, when the boat is being pushed into the water the rudder must clearly be raised, and in the water the rudder should be readily lowered into a steering position. Similarly, when approaching the shore it must be possible readily to raise the rudder and this possibility must also be readily available when the boat is in the vicinity of reefs or other objects which project from or are close to the water line.
Various proposals have been made and many have been put into practice for displacing the rudder into and out of its steering position, but these are all characterized by being relatively time consuming in operation with the consequent danger that, in an emergency such as, for example, when the boat is approaching a reef or other obstacle, it is not possible to quickly raise the rudder out of its exposed lowered position and, in consequence, the rudder and even the boat may be damaged. These problems arise even more acutely with catamarans, wherein each hull is provided with a separate rudder assembly and speed of operation in raising and lowering the rudder is even more essential.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved rudder assembly for a boat, wherein the above-referred-to disadvantages are significantly reduced.